Birdie Amsterdam, Esq First female Justice of the New York State Supreme Court

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Cousin] Birdie Amsterdam (March 25, 1901 – July 8, 1996) was a lawyer and judge in New York City, who became the first woman to serve as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court.

Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1901, Amsterdam attended Hunter College High School, studied for one year at the City College of New York, and then attended New York University School of Law. Amsterdam attended law school at night while working as a record-keeper at Mount Sinai Hospital. According to her New York Times obituary, "Mount Sinai doctors helped her practice by steering friends her way. She swiftly established a reputation not only as a skillful lawyer but also as an eloquent friend of the downtrodden, a champion of women's rights and a diligent [Democratic] party worker."

In 1940, Amsterdam was elected to the New York City Municipal Court, becoming the first woman to serve as a judge of that court. She was reelected to that position in 1949. In 1954, Amsterdam was appointed to fill a vacancy as a justice of the City Court, a higher-ranking tribunal on which she was again the first woman to serve as a judge; she was elected to a full term on that court in 1955. In 1958, Amsterdam was elected as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, the state's highest trial court. She served in that position until her retirement in 1975.

New York Times Obituary for Justice Birdie Amsterdam

Justice Birdie Amsterdam, who achieved several judicial firsts, including being the first woman elected to the New York State Supreme Court, died on Monday at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. She was 95 and lived on the Lower East Side, just steps from where she was born.

Justice Amsterdam came to be called the "first lady of the judiciary" by her peers and other admirers, a sobriquet earned during 35 years on the bench.

She was the first woman elected to the Municipal Court in New York County in 1940. She was active in the Democratic Party, but when she was up for re-election in 1949, she carried the endorsements of all three parties, all bar associations, the Citizens' Union and the American Federation of Labor.

In 1954, she was appointed Acting Justice of the City Court, another first for a woman, and won election to the office the next year.

In 1958, she gained the Supreme Court bench as a Democrat-Liberal, supported again by a long roster of civic, communal, educational, labor, scientific, philanthropic and religious groups. She served until 1975.

Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, the first woman on the Court of Appeals in Albany, the state's highest tribunal, recalled Justice Amsterdam's trailblazing achievements in a 1991 article in the New York Law Journal.

The State Supreme Court was more than 250 years old before a woman was elected to it, Judge Kaye wrote, and even today women do not enjoy the status of equals in the legal profession. "Thoughts of Justice Amsterdam's arrival on the New York State Supreme Court serve to remind of us both of how far we have advanced toward these objectives and how much they continue to elude us," she wrote.

Justice Amsterdam was one of six children of Joseph Amsterdam, a band leader from Austria. At 12, she taught English to foreign-born neighbors. Growing up in a neighborhood of immigrants and the poor awakened a commitment to social issues that guided her life as a lawyer. Her concerns ranged from playgrounds to summer camps, from slum clearance to shelter for the aged and the infirm, and from medical care to tuition assistance that could give a student a leg up. One of her special interests was the advancement of women in the legal profession.

She graduated on a state scholarship from Hunter College High School at 17. Waiting to meet the age requirement for admission to New York University Law School, she spent a year studying economics, banking and accounting at City College. She took evening classes at N.Y.U. and held a full-time job at Mount Sinai Hospital, keeping records and accounts.

Once she received her law degree in 1922, Mount Sinai doctors helped her practice by steering friends her way. She swiftly established a reputation not only as a skillful lawyer but also as an eloquent friend of the downtrodden, a champion of women's rights and a diligent party worker. She became a Tammany Hall district co-leader on the East Side.

Justice Amsterdam was honored by scores of organizations. "Who's Who of American Women" named her outstanding woman of the year for 1960 in the legal field, citing her "pre-eminent attainments and the inspiration they offer to other women in your profession."

Justice Amsterdam is survived by a sister and brother-in-law, [Ruth] and Judge Milton Sanders, with whom she shared a home on Second Avenue for 59 years, as well as another sister, Sybil Chizner of Hollywood, Fla.

Was the first woman elected to the New York State Supreme Court,

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 16 2016, 3:52:19 UTC